Raven's Eyes
by Raining Dreams
Summary: A breif glimpse into the past of dearest Raven. Written using actual references from the series and DC comics.
1. Age Five

**Raven's Eyes**

_Raining Dreams_

**A/N: **Eh. I'm back again. Writing this little Teen Titans mini-fic (it'll be 3-4 chapters, max) for some guy at my mum's work... he has restored my faith in growing up. You see, not ALL adults are mature stiffs. Some are neat and still watch cartoons and read fanfiction. Yeah. That'll be me in another 20 years. Anywho. I'll start writing now. For the record, I'm using references about Rae's past from BOTH the animated series and the old, original DC comic.

**Disclaimer:** Nope. I don't own Teen Titans. DC Comics and Cartoon Network do. But mark my words, I will own the rights to EVERYTHING someday, Teen Titans included! BWAHA-hack-HA!

**Chapter One:**

**Age Five**

Rachel Roth stared out at her surroundings with curious blue eyes. She held her mother's hand, a new, dark violet dress swinging around her ankles. She glanced up, frowning.

"What's wrong, mommy?" she inquired. Her mother looked very troubled, but said nothing. They were walking down a long hallway, made of red stone. It was very hot and dark, and Rachel was having a bit of trouble walking. The little girl sighed, looking around. She'd been told she was seeing her father today, but not why. She sighed and quite openly began to pout. She wanted to go home and read one of her picturebooks.

Arella looked down at her child, frowning. "Rachel. Remember, control. You don't feel things. They make bad things happen. Remember what happened last time?" Rachel took a deep breath, trying to expell any emotion from her small form. A difficult task when you're five. She had seen her father, the demon Trigon, a few times in the past, and had never found herself being particularly fond of him. In fact, the last time she'd seen him, he'd made her cross and one of the pillars near him had fallen. He'd gotten angry and sent her away again. She mentally winced at the memory and worked harder to be emotionless. They walked into the open chamber. Her father was sitting on a throne of stone. Three things could be gathered about Trigon at first glance: He was very large, very red, and very intimidating.

"Arella. Daughter." he boomed, surveying them with demonic eyes.

"Trigon." Arella said, sinking into a breif and reluctant curtsey. Rachel mimiked her mother. Arella sighed and released her child's hand, nudging her foward.

"Have you learned to control yourself?" Trigon inquired as Rachel shyly scuffed up. She nodded, the violet ribbon in her black hair bouncing with the force. He continued to look at her. "Yes, you will do nicely." Rachel frowned.

"Do what?" she said, swallowing curiousity. It came out nicely deadpan. Now she had to supress pride over her doing a good job of not showing any emotion. She was met by a faint breeze ruffling her hair. She looked up to see a swirling abyss. Her mouth gaped.

"I hearby claim this child as my heir!" Trigon shouted and the abyss shot a beam of firey light at Rachel's small form. She screamed, and black engulfed her, but was quickly dissapated. "From this moment, she will be known as Raven, Daughter of Trigon, Princess of Azarath!" Rachel, or Raven rather, screamed in terror again. Her blue eyes turned a stunning violet, and her pitch black hair turned a color to match. Unnatural human colors. A sign of demonic parentage. She was lifted off the ground, still screaming her head off.

"Bringer of the Apocolypse!" Trigon bellowed. Arella watched, biting her lip at her child's screams. She should have been expecting all this, but a mother can never prepare for her child's pain. A gash formed in Raven's forehead, and something sparkling came down from the abyss, shoving itself roughly into the gouge, stopping the blood. A red gem. Raven continued to scream even as the pillar faded and placed her gently on the ground. She screamed, falling to her knees, utterly terrified. Things began to fly around her until Arella managed to wrap her arms around her screaming daughter and calm her. Trigon watched smugly.

"So fate has been reinforced." Trigon said, watching as Raven stopped her shreiks, trembling in her mother's arms. The stones and other small debris that had started to fly around fell limply to the ground. She reached a small, abnormally pale hand to her forhead. There wasn't any real sun in Azarath. She took to feeling the gem now embedded into her flesh, like one would if they had just gotten their ears peirced. She felt something sticky around the stone, pulled her hand down to inspect, and whimpered. She was still bleeding.

"Mommy..." she whispered. "Mommy, I want to go home. I'm scared."

"Calm yourself, Rac...Raven. Remeber how you were taught. Deep, cleansing breaths." her mother replied softly, eyes on Trigon. Could they leave? Raven closed her eyes and began to breathe as she was told. Arella watched Trigon for several moments, before scooping her daughter up and starting out with her.

"She is no longer your child, Arella." Trigon said as Arella exited. The woman stopped, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth. "She is my heir, and she shall be dealt with as such." Several moments of silence passed, and Arella stared off again. She walked quickly all the way to the dark and twisted place she and her child called home, placing Raven down on her bed. The little girl was still breathing slowly and deeply.

"Rache..." her mother paused. It would be hard to start calling her by another name. "Raven. Are you still awake?" Raven opened her violet eyes and nodded. "If you are calm, you may stop." The child returned to normal, thoughtless breathing. "Come with me."

Raven got off of her bed and followed her mother into her mother's bedroom. "Look at yourself, Raven. This is the new you." Arella said, watching as her child stood before a tall mirror, inspecting herself. Raven's hand once again flew to the gem, and then she pulled out a lock of purple hair, inspecting. She was silent for several moments.

"Why, mommy? Why do I look like this now?" she inquired. Arella stopped for a moment. How could you explain to a five-year-old that she was to bring the apocolypse to Earth?

"Because, your father wishes it." she said simply. Good enough for now.

"Will I ever change back so I look like you again?"

Arella sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid not, darling. This is the new forever you." Raven continued to inspect herself. She twirled in the mirror a few times, looking at her hair, eyes, and forehead.

"Mommy... will you read me a story?" she said finally. Arella blinked. No more questions as to why it had happened? No emotional outbursts?

"Yes," she said slowly. "Of course, dearest." Arella took her daughter into her arms, placing her on her bed, selecting a book of fairy tales from the nearby shelf. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful maiden who did battle with a horrible dragon..."

**A/N:** Bah. That was depressingly short. Oh well. Next chapter will be better. I swear.


	2. Age Ten

**Raven's Eyes**

_Raining Dreams_

**A/N:** Well. I'm actually writing a second chapter. Go me. It took a while, but I /did/ write a second chapter. School took over my life, all that. Yay for college classes In reality, this has been done for oh, a month now. I just forgot I had it written. By the way. I live off of reviews, you see. I'm some weird little review vampire, and reviews make me write. So review.

**Disclaimer: **Okay, so my world domination plans for this week were foiled due to a lack of avacados and cacti. I still don't own Teen Titans. But I will! Eventually!

**Chapter Two:**

**Age Ten**

Calm. Cool. Tranquil. No emotions to blind oneself. No emotions to make the bad things happen. No emotions. No emotions at all. Just silence and stillness... "Azarath, metrion, zinthos... Azarath, metrion, zinthos..." whispered the ten-year-old form of Raven. Her violet hair cascaded down her back, long and loose. Her skin, from lack of sun, had began to turn a pale grey, and the gem implanted in her forehead five years ago was now as much a part of her as her fingers and toes.

_"Trigon, no! She isn't ready yet!" _

_"You are letting feelings blind you, Arella. She is my heir, not your child. She was born to bring the apocolypse, not to be raised as some human's daughter. She is ready and you know it."_

She was levitating a few inches off the ground, doing her daily meditation to keep her powers in check. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos..." she said, her eyes slowly opening to let the cold, twisted, dark world of Azarath in. She was breifly filled with child-like wonder. It never ceased to amaze her that, after meditating for a long time, she forgot what the world looked like and it was all new when she finally pulled herself out of the small trance. She watched a small flock of demonic birds fly past her, getting to her feet and starting down the path to an oh too familiar place: Her father, Trigon's, palace.

_"She can't control herself yet, Trigon! Give me another year or two, and she'll be ready then!"_

_"I am not a fool, Arella, and I grow impatient."_

Technically, as his heir, it was sort of Raven's palace too, but she never thought of it that way. She and her mother lived in a small house away from the massive building of red stone. She had started to see Trigon more and more frequently, but she still couldn't quite see him as a parental figure. That would always rest with Arella, although her mother too sometimes seemed reluctant to rear the girl.

_"I know you're not! Just... a week! Give me one week to prepare her for her destiny! She's only a little girl, Trigon! You can't just send her out there without giving her some warning!"_

Raven hummed a nameless tune her mother often sang to calm her when her emotions flared. She didn't know any words that went with the tune, nor where her mother had heard it. She simply knew it was lovely and she liked it. The palace came into sight and she sighed. Why had she agreed last month to come today? She didn't even want to see him. She didn't really e_ver_ want to see him. He was so very... irritating? Raven never could quite find the word to describe why she loathed her father so. All she knew was that she despised her visits with him with ever fiber of her small being. The doors slid begrudgingly open for the girl and she entered, her feet making small tats as she walked down the long hallway to her father's throne room.

"Very well, Arella. One week." she heard his voice growl. It made the hair on the back of Raven's neck stand on end. Raven stopped as her mother started quickly out. Arella grabbed Raven's wrist dragging her along. Raven opened her mouth breifly to inquire what was going on, but decided against it almost instantly. Her mother knew what she was doing when it involved dealing with her father. She stumbled a bit in trying to match her mother's pace, and was nearly out of breath with the effort by the time they got home. Her mother paced breifly, sighing and looking distressed. Raven sat on her bed, watching.

"Mommy, what's going on? Why are you so upset?" the child asked, following Arella with her eyes.

"Nothing, Raven, nothing at all. Listen, you need to sleep now."

"Sleep?" Raven inquired, looking around. "Mommy, it's the middle of the day. Why do I need to sleep now?" Days were measured in Azarath by the movements of an eclipse-like sun. Arella closed her eyes, hand one her forehead.

"Raven. Don't argue. Go to sleep now. I'll awaken you when you are ready." Raven stared for several moments, before nodding weakly.

"Yes, Mommy." she said quietly, retreating to her bedroom and shutting the door. It was night before Raven was awoken.

The girl yawned, sitting up. "Is it morning...?" Her mother shook her head no and made a shushing noise. Arella was clad in a black cloak with the hood up, her broach (red with a sillouette of a flame on it) securing the neck.

"Be quiet." Arella said very quietly. "Put this on." She held out a dark navy cloak, like her own, with Raven's broach. Red, with, what else, a raven on it. Raven stared, before nodding quietly, pulling the fabric over herself, tucking her long violet locks into her collar before pulling the hood over her head.

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later. Be very quet and follow me. We're leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Don't ask questions, Raven. Shush." Arella rose and motioned for Raven to follow. They exited their small home and began walking down the seemingly endless stone walkways of Azarath. After a long, long time, the shadows of arches became visible. "We're almost there, darling. Hold on just a bit longer." Raven nodded quietly, following her mother like an obediant puppy. It was always best to obey her mother's orders; she often knew what she was doing. The two had nearly reached the first arch when the ground rumbled. There was an angry howl and Trigon slammed onto the path, blocking their way.

"Arella!" he boomed. "How dare you try to take my heir! How dare you take me for a fool." Arella placed a hand in front of a very frightened Raven.

"I couldn't leave her to you, Trigon. She's your heir, but she's my daughter. And I'm not going to let you hurt her!"

"Then perhaps I should just kill you?" Trigon said, an unnerving calmness and eveness in his voice. There was a moment of silence before, with a massive red hand, the demon swatted Arella into the surrounding abyss. Raven watched in horror as her mother disappeared into the blackness with a horrible scream. It was just like that. Not massive fight. Her mother had just been killed with a single swat of her father's massive hand. The scream stopped abruptly, and tears welled into the ten-year-old's eyes.

"M...mommy...?" she uttered, eyes wide. "Mommy?" she called again, more loudly this time, eyes fixated on the abyss. Raven fell to her knees. "MOMMY!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She continued to scream this word until she was silenced by another noise. A low noise. A laugh. Trigun chuckled.

"Calling to the dead does not bring them back, daughter." he chided. Raven's head whipped around, and a new emotion filled her. One she hadn't really ever felt before. Hatrid.

"You." she hissed, getting to her feet. "You killed my mommy." The child began to advance upon him. "You_ killed my mommy_." she repeated. "You need to die now too." she said, matching his even voice from before. The world shuddered a second time and Raven's eyes began to glow with a black light, if that was even what it could be called. Her mouth thinned in rage and one of the sparse trees that lined the walkway uprooted as if it were a toothpick. With incredible speed and force, it went ramming into the demon. He didn't move. Rather, he continued to laugh.

Raven's attention turned to what was behind him. That arch. It had been what her mother was leading her to. "Get out of my way." she snapped.

"Out of your way? I think not." he boomed. Before Trigon had time to react, Raven had extended a hand and was now levitating him in the air.

"I said get out of my way." she said, her voice growing louder and more fierce with every word. With a forceful gesture, she sent him hovering over the abyss and she quietly walked towards the arch. She stopped just before it, looking to him as her emotions began to slowly die down.

"I will _never_ be your heir." she said coldly, before the barrier she'd had around him faded, leaving him to fall and die. Of course, demons don't die that easily. But Raven wouldn't know that for some time. She stepped quietly through the arch, leaving Azarath and walking straight into a brand new life.


	3. Age Thirteen

**Raven's Eyes**

_Raining Dreams_

**She's Alive?:** Yes. She is. By the way, guys, threats work very well as inspiration.

...oh. And -tune- I love Bosco!

P.S. For all interested, I've co-written a Marauders' Era fic. It can be found on this site under the penname 'Hopeless Romantics'.

**Disclaimer: **-insert witty something or other here about how I don't own Teen Titans-

_"Please, you have to let me join you!" Ten-year-old Raven begged the Justice League. "Please, I'm the only one who can stop him! Without me you don't stand a chance!"_

_"She's a demon." A woman said coldly. "She can't be trusted. Send her away."_

"Please!" pleaded the child again, eyes wide and welling with tears. Things began to float of their own accord.

_"Get her out of here, now!"_

The thirteen-year-old Raven Roth sat up in her bed, batting her eyes tiredly. She quickly glanced around and mentally swore. Things around the room had dropped where they'd been flying, and judging by the state of her bed, she'd been levitating in her sleep again.

A nun came rushing into the room, looking around. "Little Bird!" she cried. Ever since Raven had told them her name, they'd called her things like 'Little Bird' or 'Blackbird'. "What have you done?" The woman scowled severely, looking at the lamp laying in shambles on the floor. "I'd suggest candles to Mother Superior if I weren't afraid you'd burn the place down." She shook her head, looking up at Raven, who looked unfazed as usual.

The nun sighed. "I'll clean this up. You get some breakfast."

Raven responded with a nod and slipped from her bed, walking carefully around the nun and the broken lamp. After getting herself dressed, she swept with the elegance of a royal (which, if you got right down to it, she was) down to the rather sad excuse for a cafeteria. She helped herself to some orange juice and dry toast, nibbling quietly as the nuns ran to and fro.

A particularly imposing woman approached Raven, a deep frown on her elderly features. "Didn't we just dye your hair?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"But it's nearly purple again!"

"I know, ma'am."

"I think we should try shaving your head again and giving you a wig." sighed the Mother Superior.

"It will only grow back in a day or two." Pointed out Raven, which gained a reluctant nod of agreement from the stern woman. Her odd physical features had always been something of particular discomfort for the nuns at the convent she'd been sent to by the Justice League. The League's logic was that the good spiritual energy would limit her. She'd been behaving herself, but all the religion rubbish had done as much as a gnat bite to keeping her in check.

Regardless of these theories, the nuns had tried to make due with her. They attempted to dye her hair at least once weekly, but the dye always vanished after three days at most, no matter what they did. No amount of makeup, generally frowned upon by the nuns except in this case, could conceal the grey notes to her skin. And then there was that gem; that paganistic symbol of certain devil worship. They'd tried prying it out several times, but stopped after Sister Mary Alice had nearly lost her hand to the child.

"The Archbishop is visiting today, Raven," the Mother Superior began. "You are to stay out of the way and be quiet. Entertain yourself somehow. I've brought you the newspaper to read and a book of crossword puzzles. I trust you will be able to feed yourself with a full kitchen?"

Raven nodded and was left in the quiet solitude of the dining hall. She examined her materials for the day. A ballpoint pen and a few dull pencils, one bearing teethmarks. An old, Christian-themed book of crosswords. Yesterday's newspaper. Bor-- wait.

The girl stopped, looking at the front page more closely. Batman was there... he'd been one of the men to bring her to this horrible place. In reality, the convent wasn't terrible, but it was agonizing to be treated that way by all the nuns. Not to mention she always had the fear her father would come. Robin, apparently his apprentice, was leaving to 'find his own way to help people'. Raising a brow in interest, Raven read further. Apparently the boy was going to Jump City, where there was a large amount of crime and a struggling police force.

Jump City wasn't far from the convent at all.

Raven nearly showed signs of anxious excitement as her head popped up and she looked out the window. She could practically see the haze of the city on that horizon. Unable to contain herself, Raven licked her lips and chewed a bit on the lower one. She had reached a crossroads and needed to make a decision.

She'd been flying for almost an hour by the time the nuns noticed she was gone, along with a few pages of the paper and her few things. She had left a note. In neat, scripty handwriting, it simply said 'thank you'.

The wind ran through her violet hair, and a smile curled over Raven's pale lips as she soared over the countryside outside Jump City. The cloak she'd first come here in, now a few sizes too small but still wearable, billowed behind her. And then she saw it.

Jump City rose before her like some black, shining monster. Smog blanketed the upper areas around the skyscrapers, and traffic bustled through the streets. Zooming in for a landing outside the city so as not to attract attention, Raven quickly removed her cloak and pulled on a jacket to blend in as much as was possible. She tugged the hood over her head.

One week later...

"Why am I here?" the fourteen-year-old inquired, looking skeptical.

"You need help. I'm offering it."

"But what can you do?" Robin said, fighting the urge to laugh. The girl before him was frail looking and dainty. She looked like she'd snap if the wind blew too hard. She looked grey, but that was probably the lighting of this dank, vacated shopping center she'd insisted on meeting at. Her hair was a startling shade of purple, but dyes could easily achieve that. Raven muttered something under her breath, and behind him a dumpster flew up in the air, before landing, roughly fifteen feet away, with a cry of twisting metal.

Raven simply cocked a brow at him, arms folded over her chest. Robin had to use all the willpower he had not to gape.

"Who are you?" he managed. Raven smirked.

"Your new partner in crime fighting." she replied, the smile fading as she stifled the welling happiness in her chest.


	4. Cyborg

**Raven's Eyes**

_Raining Dreams_

**Author's Note:** Still alive. Writing due to a serious lack of broadband in my house. I now remember why the thought of dial-up frightens me.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Teen Titans. They belong to DC comics and Cartoon Network. The end.

**Chapter Four:**

**Cyborg**

"You're what?" hissed Batman at Robin's face on the small screen. "I thought we put her into a sealed convent! How did she even get out?!"

"Raven says she was only staying there so that the League would calm down." Robin observed. Raven was in the next room, trying her best to be good and not spy, but failing miserably. How could she help it? She needed to know if now was a good time to fly away until things calmed down again before the Justice League could take a more permenent course of action against her.

"That still doesn't explain why you're trying to work with her." Robin had to fight not to roll his eyes. Bruce was sounding more like a father than an old partner.

"She's strong and, despite what you all think, not that bad."

Batman could see he was loosing a fighting battle. Robin had always been annoyingly hard-headed. He let out a long, scornful sigh. "I can't make choices for you anymore, Robin. But know if you take this route, I'm not going to be there to bail you out. You will have dug your own grave."

"I think she's okay," Robin said quietly. There was a long moment of silence. "Thanks for watching out for me."

There was a low grumble from the other end of the communicator, before the line went dead. Raven quickly looked back down at the book spread over her lap, moving her eyes but not actually reading. She was fighting hard to stifle the little bubble of glee in her chest. He thought she was okay! The raven-haired boy swept back into the room, looking to her. She glanced up, pretending to have just come out of her own little world.

"Well?" she asked in her croony voice.

"He's not happy, but I don't think he's going to come after you. He'll convince the League to leave us alone."

Raven gave a small nod, the gem in her head glinting in the afternoon light. She was currently at the small apartment Robin was calling base until he could find somewhere better. She was taking full advantage of the freedoms she had here, relishing in the fact she could come and go as she pleased with little to no interrogation. "That's good." she noted, looking out the window and into the city. She paused, before looking to him out the corners of her eyes. "Robin, I have a question. Do you trust me?"

"I don't." Robin replied simply, "I only met you a week ago, Raven, and the last I heard of you, the League had to use eight members just so that you wouldn't hurt yourself or anyone else."

Raven took a particularly sharp breath, although her face stayed emotionless. She wanted to snap that if they hadn't attacked her, she wouldn't have fought back. Instead, the fourteen-year-old rose to her feet, walking to a small chair in the corner and picking up her sweater. "I'm going out." she announced.

"Running wont make things go away." said Robin.

"I'm not running." Raven replied, a definite icy note to her voice. "I'm walking. Possibly flying if I walk far enough."

"Do you want me to come with you? You still don't know Jump City that well. You might get lost." he offered; he realized that he'd snapped something inside the girl before him and needed to fix it immediately before she left all together.

"I can take care of myself."

Robin frowned. "Raven, I didn't mean to upset you. You can't just expect trust instantly."

"I didn't." she replied, almost glaring, though knowing somewhere deep down she really had. "What you and the League don't seem to understand is that half-demon implies half-human too. I understand the concept of trust."

Robin had to stop to consider this. He hadn't ever thought of it that way. He'd only seen the grey skin and violet hair and eyes, not the words coming from her mouth or how she acted not unlike him. He scuffed an awkward pubescent foot. "You're right. I didn't. I'm sorry."

The girl looked him over, before the slight anger on her features melted. Had that been all she wanted? She'd never gotten an apology before in this world, and it did feel good. "Thank you." she mumbled.

The moment was interupted by the shrill ring of a phone. Robin snatched it up, sounding quite official when answering it. "Robin here. Yeah? Yeah. We're there." he all but threw the phone back onto the receiver. "We've got a bank robbery downtown. Come on, I've got a motorbike."

"Flying is faster." Raven replied, starting towards the closet and grabbing her cloak. She thought she looked very impressive swooping in wearing it, regardless of it not fitting properly.

"Er, Raven." Robin said, raising a brow. "I can't fly."

"Yes. And I can." she extended a hand to him, opening the sliding glass door of the apartment. Cautiously, Robin took it. The faintest ghost of a smirk breezed over her lips as she muttered those three, magical little words.

She zoomed into the air and Robin, surrounded by that odd black light, was soon to follow. As he flapped helplessly in the wind, dangling by her hand, Robin made a mental note to never agree to fly with Raven again. Ever.

Four months later...

"Rae, come look at this!" Robin called from the next room. The city had long since supplied the two supercharged teens with a spacious apartment to call their own. It was a far cry from what the future tower would be, but for the moment, neither were complaining.

"I'm reading." was her only reply.

"Raven. _Please_ come look at this?"

A heavy sigh, and a somewhat sour looking girl entered. Not that she didn't always look sour. "What?" she demanded,displeased that she'd been interrupted. Robin simply nodded to the television where there was some sort of special about a sports star that had been in a terrible accident, and how he had been made into a cyborg to survive. Watching for all of thirty seconds, she gave Robin a skeptical look. "And?"

"We should talk to him." Robin said thoughtfully. "He's bound to be confused, and it said earlier that he has superhuman abilities now. We can always use help."

Raven felt that twinge in her chest. She'd gotten very comfortable with it just being Robin and she, and was quite certain she didn't want anyone else in the picture. Call her selfish, but Raven wanted Robin's full attention whenever she wanted it, and didn't particularly care for the idea of sharing. However, as she watched him, she immediately knew that they were going one way or another. "Fine. We'll talk to him. But I doubt he'll want to..."

"...Join?? With you guys? Ya'll must be playin' now!" exclaimed an excited boy. Raven wanted to grab Robin and strangle him, but kept a poker face. She thought about trying to warp some words and convince the teen before them that he didn't want to be a Teen Titan, as she and Robin had dubbed themselves. However, Robin would spot her intentions a mile away and shoot her down before she had the chance, so she stayed quiet.

"We'd love to have you on the team." Robin said with a grin.

"Yes. We'd love to." agreed Raven quietly.

"Er, one question though." began Robin. "What should we call you?"

The boy grinned, electronic eye flashing. "Cyborg."


End file.
